Comment previews displayed in context within content item

ABSTRACT

The present technology pertains to a details pane that is displayed in coordination with a file explorer interface. The details pane can display details including activities, comments, and previews for content items displayed in the details pane. In some embodiments, the content items displayed in the file explorer interface can be stored in and accessed from different services, and the details in the details pane can also be populated from diverse sources. In some embodiments, edits or navigations can be performed within a preview of the content item. In some embodiments, comments can be shown along with previews that show the comment located within the content item.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present technology pertains to a graphical user interface fordisplaying details pertaining to content items, and more specificallypertains to displaying details pertaining to several content items in afolder in a file explorer interface.

BACKGROUND

Traditional file explorer applications and associated user interfaceswere built for an outdated environment. Specifically, they were builtfor displaying content items stored in one location, such as contentitems stored locally, or content items stored in networked storage.These traditional file explorer applications are now outdated.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above-recited and other advantages and features of the presenttechnology will become apparent by reference to specific implementationsillustrated in the appended drawings. A person of ordinary skill in theart will understand that these drawings only show some examples of thepresent technology and would not limit the scope of the presenttechnology to these examples. Furthermore, the skilled artisan willappreciate the principles of the present technology as described andexplained with additional specificity and detail through the use of theaccompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 shows an example of a content management system and clientdevices;

FIG. 2 shows an example file system explorer including a details paneshowing activity metadata for a root folder in accordance with someaspects of the present technology;

FIG. 3 shows an example file system explorer including a details paneshowing activity metadata and comments for a sub-folder in accordancewith some aspects of the present technology;

FIG. 4 shows an example file system explorer including a details paneshowing activity metadata, comments, and a preview for a selectedcontent item in accordance with some aspects of the present technology;

FIG. 5A shows an example method embodiment for populating details panewith details in accordance with some aspects of the present technology;

FIG. 5B shows an example method embodiment for presenting aggregateddetails, and contextualizing aggregated details to a selected folder inaccordance with some aspects of the present technology;

FIG. 6A, FIG. 6B, and FIG. 6C show an example file system explorerincluding a details pane showing aggregated details in accordance withsome aspects of the present technology;

FIG. 7 shows an example method embodiment for providing interactionswith the details pane, and for populating details pane with a previewfor a selected content item in accordance with some aspects of thepresent technology;

FIG. 8 shows an example file system explorer including a details paneshowing activity metadata, comments, and a preview for a selected folderin accordance with some aspects of the present technology;

FIG. 9 shows an example file system explorer including a details paneshowing activity metadata, comments, and a dynamic preview for aselected content item in accordance with some aspects of the presenttechnology;

FIG. 10A shows an example details pane in a window separate from thefile system explorer in accordance with some aspects of the presenttechnology;

FIG. 10B shows an example details pane in a window separate from thefile system explorer in accordance with some aspects of the presenttechnology;

FIG. 11 shows an example method embodiment for presenting a preview ordynamic preview within a details pane in accordance with some aspects ofthe present technology;

FIG. 12A and FIG. 12B show example details panes in a window separatefrom the file system explorer, and show a preview of a location in whicha comment is anchored with a content item in accordance with someaspects of the present technology;

FIG. 13 shows an example details pane and a popout window where thepopout window shows a preview of a location in which a selected commentis anchored with a content item in accordance with some aspects of thepresent technology;

FIG. 14 shows an example document with a comment placed within it inaccordance with some aspects of the present technology;

FIG. 15 shows an example details pane and a popout window where thepopout window shows details for a content item associated with aselected activity in accordance with some aspects of the presenttechnology;

FIG. 16 shows an example method embodiment for rendering and interactingwith a dynamic preview in accordance with some aspects of the presenttechnology;

FIG. 17A and FIG. 17B show example details panes in a window separatefrom the file system explorer, the details pane includes a dynamicpreview of a content item that can receive edits in the dynamic previewin accordance with some aspects of the present technology;

FIG. 18 shows an example method embodiment for pre-fetching activitiesor comments in accordance with some aspects of the present technology;and

FIG. 19 shows an example of a system for implementing certain aspects ofthe present technology.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various examples of the present technology are discussed in detailbelow. While specific implementations are discussed, it should beunderstood that this is done for illustration purposes only. A personskilled in the relevant art will recognize that other components andconfigurations may be used without parting from the spirit and scope ofthe present technology.

The disclosed technology addresses the need in the art for a fileexplorer application that is optimized to account for modern dayrealities regarding where users store and access files, and regardinghow users engage with content items. Additionally, the disclosedtechnology addresses the need to view types of information that have notbeen exposed by a file explorer application in the past, but these typesof information are important in helping a user identify content items,or content items that might need the user's attention. Identifyingcontent items is more important than ever given the ever-increasingamount of stored data that is accessible to users.

Since many users store content items in content management systems, andcloud hosted document services as well as on local storage of clientdevices and network accessible drives, an improved file explorer shouldbe able to show information regarding all content items regardless ofwhere stored. In some embodiments, an improved file explorer should beable to display a listing of content items that include content itemsfrom different sources at the same time.

Since some sources in which a content item may be stored may includedifferent features, or may store different metadata associated withcontent items, an improved file explorer should display new types ofinformation available from the various sources.

Since many content items are now shared with other users, or may even becollaborative content items that allow multiple users to edit andcomment on a content item, an improved file explorer should presentinformation regarding recent activities pertinent to the content items.

Since some users need to access many files to make minor changes or justto view a minor update or comment made in a content item, a fileexplorer should provide enhanced previews that make some actionspossible from the enhanced preview and without having to fully open thedocument.

The present technology provides a file explorer that meets one or moreof the stated deficiencies of traditional file explorers. By meeting theabove stated needs, the present technology not only solves problemsassociated with displaying more useful information regarding contentitems from a plurality of diverse sources, but also provides severalefficiencies. Since more useful information is in one place, a user doesnot need to operate a computing device to navigate through manyadditional screens to be exposed to all the data that the presenttechnology can present in a file explorer. Further, since some actionscan be performed without fully opening a content item, and withoutopening default applications utilized in opening content items, theseactions can also save computing resources. Furthermore, the userthemselves is also made more efficient since finding a relevant file,learning relevant information, and performing some tasks can all beperformed in the file explorer.

In some embodiments, the disclosed technology is deployed in the contextof a content management system having content item synchronizationcapabilities and collaboration features, among others. An example systemconfiguration 100 is shown in FIG. 1, which depicts content managementsystem 110 interacting with client device 150.

Accounts

Content management system 110 can store content items in associationwith accounts, as well as perform a variety of content item managementtasks, such as retrieve, modify, browse, and/or share the contentitem(s). Furthermore, content management system 110 can enable anaccount to access content item(s) from multiple client devices.

Content management system 110 supports a plurality of accounts. Anentity (user, group of users, team, company, etc.) can create an accountwith content management system 110, and account details can be stored inaccount database 140. Account database 140 can store profile informationfor registered entities. In some cases, profile information forregistered entities includes a username and/or email address. Accountdatabase 140 can include account management information, such as accounttype (e.g. various tiers of free or paid accounts), storage spaceallocated, storage space used, client devices 150 having a registeredcontent management client application 152 resident thereon, securitysettings, personal configuration settings, etc.

Account database 140 can store groups of accounts associated with anentity. Groups can have permissions based on group policies and/oraccess control lists, and members of the groups can inherit thepermissions. For example, a marketing group can have access to one setof content items while an engineering group can have access to anotherset of content items. An administrator group can modify groups, modifyuser accounts, etc.

Content Item Storage

A feature of content management system 110 is the storage of contentitems, which can be stored in content storage 142. Content items can beany digital data such as documents, collaboration content items, textfiles, audio files, image files, video files, webpages, executablefiles, binary files, etc. A content item can also include collections orother mechanisms for grouping content items together with differentbehaviors, such as folders, zip files, playlists, albums, etc. Acollection can refer to a folder, or a plurality of content items thatare related or grouped by a common attribute. In some embodiments,content storage 142 is combined with other types of storage or databasesto handle specific functions. Content storage 142 can store contentitems, while metadata regarding the content items can be stored inmetadata database 146. Likewise, data regarding where a content item isstored in content storage 142 can be stored in content directory 144.Additionally, data regarding changes, access, etc. can be stored inserver file journal 148. Each of the various storages/databases such ascontent storage 142, content directory 144, server file journal 148, andmetadata database 146 can be comprised of more than one such storage ordatabase and can be distributed over many devices and locations. Otherconfigurations are also possible. For example, data from content storage142, content directory 144, server file journal 148, and/or metadatadatabase 146 may be combined into one or more content storages ordatabases or further segmented into additional content storages ordatabases. Thus, content management system 110 may include more or lessstorages and/or databases than shown in FIG. 1.

In some embodiments, content storage 142 is associated with at least onecontent storage service 116, which includes software or other processorexecutable instructions for managing the storage of content itemsincluding, but not limited to, receiving content items for storage,preparing content items for storage, selecting a storage location forthe content item, retrieving content items from storage, etc. In someembodiments, content storage service 116 can divide a content item intosmaller chunks for storage at content storage 142. The location of eachchunk making up a content item can be recorded in content directory 144.Content directory 144 can include a content entry for each content itemstored in content storage 142. The content entry can be associated witha unique ID, which identifies a content item.

In some embodiments, the unique ID, which identifies a content item incontent directory 144, can be derived from a deterministic hashfunction. This method of deriving a unique ID for a content item canensure that content item duplicates are recognized as such since thedeterministic hash function will output the same identifier for everycopy of the same content item, but will output a different identifierfor a different content item. Using this methodology, content storageservice 116 can output a unique ID for each content item.

Content storage service 116 can also designate or record a content pathfor a content item in metadata database 146. The content path caninclude the name of the content item and/or folder hierarchy associatedwith the content item. For example, the content path can include afolder or path of folders in which the content item is stored in a localfile system on a client device. While content items are stored incontent storage 142 in blocks and may not be stored under a tree likedirectory structure, such directory structure is a comfortablenavigation structure for users. Content storage service 116 can defineor record a content path for a content item wherein the “root” node of adirectory structure can be a namespace for each account. Within thenamespace can be a directory structure defined by a user of an accountand/or content storage service 116. Metadata database 146 can store thecontent path for each content item as part of a content entry.

In some embodiments, the namespace can include additional namespacesnested in the directory structure as if they are stored within the rootnode. This can occur when an account has access to a shared collection.Shared collections can be assigned their own namespace within contentmanagement system 110. While some shared collections are actually a rootnode for the shared collection, they are located subordinate to theaccount namespace in the directory structure, and can appear as a folderwithin a folder for the account. As addressed above, the directorystructure is merely a comfortable navigation structure for users, butdoes not correlate to storage locations of content items in contentstorage 142.

While the directory structure in which an account views content itemsdoes not correlate to storage locations at content management system110, the directory structure can correlate to storage locations on localcontent storage 154 of client device 150 depending on the file systemused by client device 150.

As addressed above, a content entry in content directory 144 can alsoinclude the location of each chunk making up a content item. Morespecifically, the content entry can include content pointers thatidentify the location in content storage 142 of the chunks that make upthe content item.

In addition to a content path and content pointer, a content entry incontent directory 144 can also include a user account identifier thatidentifies the user account that has access to the content item and/or agroup identifier that identifies a group with access to the content itemand/or a namespace to which the content entry belongs.

Content storage service 116 can decrease the amount of storage spacerequired by identifying duplicate content items or duplicate blocks thatmake up a content item or versions of a content item. Instead of storingmultiple copies, content storage 142 can store a single copy of thecontent item or block of the content item and content directory 144 caninclude a pointer or other mechanism to link the duplicates to thesingle copy.

Content storage service 116 can also store metadata describing contentitems, content item types, folders, file path, and/or the relationshipof content items to various accounts, collections, or groups in metadatadatabase 146, in association with the unique ID of the content item.

Content storage service 116 can also store a log of data regardingchanges, access, etc. in server file journal 148. Server file journal148 can include the unique ID of the content item and a description ofthe change or access action along with a time stamp or version numberand any other relevant data. Server file journal 148 can also includepointers to blocks affected by the change or content item access.Content storage service 116 can provide the ability to undo operations,by using a content item version control that tracks changes to contentitems, different versions of content items (including diverging versiontrees), and a change history that can be acquired from the server filejournal 148.

Content Item Synchronization

Another feature of content management system 110 is synchronization ofcontent items with at least one client device 150. Client device(s) cantake different forms and have different capabilities. For example,client device 150 ₁ is a computing device having a local file systemaccessible by multiple applications resident thereon. Client device 150₂ is a computing device wherein content items are only accessible to aspecific application or by permission given by the specific application,and the content items are typically stored either in an applicationspecific space or in the cloud. Client device 150 ₃ is any client deviceaccessing content management system 110 via a web browser and accessingcontent items via a web interface. While example client devices 150 ₁,150 ₂, and 150 ₃ are depicted in form factors such as a laptop, mobiledevice, or web browser, it should be understood that the descriptionsthereof are not limited to devices of these example form factors. Forexample a mobile device such as client 150 ₂ might have a local filesystem in local content storage 154 accessible by multiple applicationsresident thereon, or client 150 ₂ might access content management system110 via a web browser. As such, the form factor should not be consideredlimiting when considering client device 150's capabilities. One or morefunctions described herein with respect to client device 150 may or maynot be available on every client device depending on the specificcapabilities of the device—the file access model being one suchcapability.

In many embodiments, client devices are associated with an account ofcontent management system 110, but in some embodiments, client devicescan access content using shared links and do not require an account.

As noted above, some client devices can access content management system110 using a web browser. However, client devices can also access contentmanagement system 110 using client application 152 stored and running onclient device 150. Client application 152 can include a clientsynchronization service 156.

Client synchronization service 156 can be in communication with serversynchronization service 112 to synchronize changes to content itemsbetween client device 150 and content management system 110.

Client device 150 can synchronize content with content management system110 via client synchronization service 156. The synchronization can beplatform agnostic. That is, content can be synchronized across multipleclient devices of varying type, capabilities, operating systems, etc.Client synchronization service 156 can synchronize any changes (new,deleted, modified, copied, or moved content items) to content items in adesignated location of a file system of client device 150.

Content items can be synchronized from client device 150 to contentmanagement system 110, and vice versa. In embodiments wheresynchronization is from client device 150 to content management system110, a user can manipulate content items directly from the file systemof client device 150, while client synchronization service 156 canmonitor a directory on client device 150 for changes to files within themonitored folders.

When client synchronization service 156 detects a write, move, copy, ordelete of content in a directory that it monitors, clientsynchronization service 156 can synchronize the changes to contentstorage service 116. In some embodiments, client synchronization service156 can perform some functions of content storage service 116 includingfunctions addressed above such as dividing the content item into blocks,hashing the content item to generate a unique identifier, etc. Clientsynchronization service 156 can index content within client storageindex 164 and save the result in storage index 164. Indexing can includestoring paths plus a unique server identifier, and a unique clientidentifier for each content item. In some embodiments, clientsynchronization service 156 learns the unique server identifier fromserver synchronization service 112, and learns the unique clientidentifier from the operating system of client device 150.

Client synchronization service 156 can use storage index 164 tofacilitate the synchronization of at least a portion of the contentwithin client storage with content associated with a user account oncontent management system 110. For example, client synchronizationservice 156 can compare storage index 164 with content management system110 and detect differences between content on client storage and contentassociated with a user account on content management system 110. Clientsynchronization service 156 can then attempt to reconcile differences byuploading, downloading, modifying, and deleting content on clientstorage as appropriate. Content storage service 116 can store thechanged or new block for the content item and update server file journal148, metadata database 146, content directory 144, content storage 142,account database 140, etc. as appropriate.

When synchronizing from content management system 110 to client device150, a mount, modification, addition, deletion, move of a content itemrecorded in server file journal 148 can trigger a notification to besent to client device 150 using notification service 117. When clientdevice 150 is informed of the change a request for changes listed inserver file journal 148 since the last synchronization point known tothe client device is made. When client device 150 determines that it isout of synchronization with content management system 110, clientsynchronization service 156 requests content item blocks including thechanges, and updates its local copy of the changed content items.

In some embodiments, storage index 164 stores tree data structureswherein one tree reflects the latest representation of a directoryaccording to server synchronization service 112, while another treereflects the latest representation of the directory according to clientsynchronization service 156. Client synchronization service can work toensure that the tree structures match by requesting data from serversynchronization service 112 or committing changes on client device 150to content management system 110.

Sometimes client device 150 might not have a network connectionavailable. In this scenario, client synchronization service 156 canmonitor the linked collection for content item changes and queue thosechanges for later synchronization to content management system 110 whena network connection is available. Similarly, a user can manually start,stop, pause, or resume synchronization with content management system110.

Client synchronization service 156 can synchronize all contentassociated with a particular user account on content management system110. Alternatively, client synchronization service 156 can selectivelysynchronize a portion of the content of the total content associatedwith the particular user account on content management system 110.Selectively synchronizing only a portion of the content can preservespace on client device 150 and save bandwidth.

In some embodiments, client synchronization service 156 selectivelystores a portion of the content associated with the particular useraccount and stores placeholder content items in client storage for theremainder portion of the content. For example, client synchronizationservice 156 can store a placeholder content item that has the samefilename, path, extension, metadata, of its respective complete contentitem on content management system 110, but lacking the data of thecomplete content item. The placeholder content item can be a few bytesor less in size while the respective complete content item might besignificantly larger. After client device 150 attempts to access thecontent item, client synchronization service 156 can retrieve the dataof the content item from content management system 110 and provide thecomplete content item to accessing client device 150. This approach canprovide significant space and bandwidth savings while still providingfull access to a user's content on content management system 110.

Collaboration Features

Another feature of content management system 110 is to facilitatecollaboration between users. Collaboration features include content itemsharing, commenting on content items, co-working on content items,instant messaging, providing presence and seen state informationregarding content items, etc.

Sharing

Content management system 110 can manage sharing content via sharingservice 128. Sharing content by providing a link to the content caninclude making the content item accessible from any computing device innetwork communication with content management system 110. However, insome embodiments, a link can be associated with access restrictionsenforced by content management system 110 and access control list 145.Sharing content can also include linking content using sharing service128 to share content within content management system 110 with at leastone additional user account (in addition to the original user accountassociated with the content item) so that each user account has accessto the content item. The additional user account can gain access to thecontent by accepting the content, which will then be accessible througheither web interface service 124 or directly from within the directorystructure associated with their account on client device 150. Thesharing can be performed in a platform agnostic manner. That is, thecontent can be shared across multiple client devices 150 of varyingtype, capabilities, operating systems, etc. The content can also beshared across varying types of user accounts.

To share a content item within content management system 110 sharingservice 128 can add a user account identifier or multiple user accountidentifiers to a content entry in access control list database 145associated with the content item, thus granting the added user accountaccess to the content item. Sharing service 128 can also remove useraccount identifiers from a content entry to restrict a user account'saccess to the content item. Sharing service 128 can record content itemidentifiers, user account identifiers given access to a content item,and access levels in access control list database 145. For example, insome embodiments, user account identifiers associated with a singlecontent entry can specify different permissions for respective useraccount identifiers with respect to the associated content item.

To share content items outside of content management system 110, sharingservice 128 can generate a custom network address, such as a uniformresource locator (URL), which allows any web browser to access thecontent item or collection in content management system 110 without anyauthentication. To accomplish this, sharing service 128 can includecontent identification data in the generated URL, which can later beused to properly identify and return the requested content item. Forexample, sharing service 128 can include the account identifier and thecontent path or a content item identifying code in the generated URL.Upon selection of the URL, the content identification data included inthe URL can be transmitted to content management system 110, which canuse the received content identification data to identify the appropriatecontent item and return the content item.

In addition to generating the URL, sharing service 128 can also beconfigured to record in access control list database 145 that a URL tothe content item has been created. In some embodiments, the contententry associated with a content item can include a URL flag indicatingwhether a URL to the content item has been created. For example, the URLflag can be a Boolean value initially set to 0 or false to indicate thata URL to the content item has not been created. Sharing service 128 canchange the value of the flag to 1 or true after generating a URL to thecontent item.

In some embodiments, sharing service 128 can associate a set ofpermissions to a URL for a content item. For example, if a user attemptsto access the content item via the URL, sharing service 128 can providea limited set of permissions for the content item. Examples of limitedpermissions include restrictions that the user cannot download thecontent item, save the content item, copy the content item, modify thecontent item, etc. In some embodiments, limited permissions includerestrictions that only permit a content item to be accessed from with aspecified domain, i.e., from within a corporate network domain, or byaccounts associated with a specified domain, e.g., accounts associatedwith a company account (e.g., @acme.com).

In some embodiments, sharing service 128 can also be configured todeactivate a generated URL. For example, each content entry can alsoinclude a URL active flag indicating whether the content should bereturned in response to a request from the generated URL. For example,sharing service 128 can only return a content item requested by agenerated link if the URL active flag is set to 1 or true. Thus, accessto a content item for which a URL has been generated can be easilyrestricted by changing the value of the URL active flag. This allows auser to restrict access to the shared content item without having tomove the content item or delete the generated URL. Likewise, sharingservice 128 can reactivate the URL by again changing the value of theURL active flag to 1 or true. A user can thus easily restore access tothe content item without the need to generate a new URL.

In some embodiments, content management system 110 can designate a URLfor uploading a content item. For example, a first user with a useraccount can request such a URL, provide the URL to a contributing userand the contributing user can upload a content item to the first user'suser account using the URL.

Team Service

In some embodiments, content management system 110 includes team service130. Team service 130 can provide functionality for creating andmanaging defined teams of user accounts. Teams can be created for acompany, with sub-teams (e.g., business units, or project teams, etc.),and user accounts assigned to teams and sub-teams, or teams can becreated for any defined group of user accounts. Teams service 130 canprovide a common shared space for the team, private user accountfolders, and access limited shared folders. Teams service can alsoprovide a management interface for an administrator to managecollections and content items within team, and can manage user accountsthat are associated with the team.

Authorization Service

In some embodiments, content management system 110 includesauthorization service 132. Authorization service 132 ensures that a useraccount attempting to access a namespace has appropriate rights toaccess the namespace. Authorization service 132 can receive a token fromclient application 152 that follows a request to access a namespace andcan return the capabilities permitted to the user account. For useraccounts with multiple levels of access (e.g. a user account with userrights and administrator rights) authorization service 132 can alsorequire explicit privilege escalation to avoid unintentional actions byadministrators.

Presence and Seen State

In some embodiments, content management system can provide informationabout how users with which a content item is shared are interacting orhave interacted with the content item. In some embodiments, contentmanagement system 110 can report that a user with which a content itemis shared is currently viewing the content item. For example, clientcollaboration service 160 can notify notifications service 117 whenclient device 150 is accessing the content item. Notifications service117 can then notify all client devices of other users having access tothe same content item of the presence of the user of client device 150with respect to the content item.

In some embodiments, content management system 110 can report a historyof user interaction with a shared content item. Collaboration service126 can query data sources such as metadata database 146 and server filejournal 148 to determine that a user has saved the content item, that auser has yet to view the content item, etc., and disseminate this statusinformation using notification service 117 to other users so that theycan know who currently is or has viewed or modified the content item.

Collaboration service 126 can facilitate comments associated withcontent, even if a content item does not natively support commentingfunctionality. Such comments can be stored in metadata database 146.

Collaboration service 126 can originate and transmit notifications forusers. For example, a user can mention another user in a comment andcollaboration service 126 can send a notification to that user that hehas been mentioned in the comment. Various other content item events cantrigger notifications, including deleting a content item, sharing acontent item, etc.

Collaboration service 126 can provide a messaging platform whereby userscan send and receive instant messages, voice calls, emails, etc.

Collaboration Content Items

In some embodiments, content management service can also includecollaborative document service 134 which can provide an interactivecontent item collaboration platform whereby users can simultaneouslycreate collaboration content items, comment in the collaboration contentitems, and manage tasks within the collaboration content items.Collaboration content items can be files that users can create and editusing a collaboration content item editor, and can contain collaborationcontent item elements. Collaboration content item elements may include acollaboration content item identifier, one or more author identifiers,collaboration content item text, collaboration content item attributes,interaction information, comments, sharing users, etc. Collaborationcontent item elements can be stored as database entities, which allowsfor searching and retrieving the collaboration content items. Multipleusers may access, view, edit, and collaborate on collaboration contentitems at the same time or at different times. In some embodiments, thiscan be managed by requiring two users access a content item through aweb interface and there they can work on the same copy of the contentitem at the same time.

Collaboration Companion Interface

In some embodiments, client collaboration service 160 can provide anative application companion interface for the purpose of displayinginformation relevant to a content item being presented on client device150. In embodiments wherein a content item is accessed by a nativeapplication stored and executed on client device 150, where the contentitem is in a designated location of the file system of client device 150such that the content item is managed by content application 152, thenative application may not provide any native way to display the aboveaddressed collaboration data. In such embodiments, client collaborationservice 160 can detect that a user has opened a content item, and canprovide an overlay with additional information for the content item,such as collaboration data. For example, the additional information caninclude comments for the content item, status of the content item,activity of other users previously or currently viewing the contentitem. Such an overlay can warn a user that changes might be lost becauseanother user is currently editing the content item.

In some embodiments, one or more of the services or storages/databasesdiscussed above can be accessed using public or private applicationprogramming interfaces.

Certain software applications can access content storage 142 via an APIon behalf of a user. For example, a software package such as anapplication running on client device 150, can programmatically make APIcalls directly to content management system 110 when a user providesauthentication credentials, to read, write, create, delete, share, orotherwise manipulate content.

A user can view or manipulate content stored in a user account via a webinterface generated and served by web interface service 124. Forexample, the user can navigate in a web browser to a web addressprovided by content management system 110. Changes or updates to contentin the content storage 142 made through the web interface, such asuploading a new version of a content item, can be propagated back toother client devices associated with the user's account. For example,multiple client devices, each with their own client software, can beassociated with a single account and content items in the account can besynchronized between each of the multiple client devices.

Client device 150 can connect to content management system 110 on behalfof a user. A user can directly interact with client device 150, forexample when client device 150 is a desktop or laptop computer, phone,television, internet-of-things device, etc. Alternatively oradditionally, client device 150 can act on behalf of the user withoutthe user having physical access to client device 150, for example whenclient device 150 is a server.

Some features of client device 150 are enabled by an applicationinstalled on client device 150. In some embodiments, the application caninclude a content management system specific component. For example, thecontent management system specific component can be a stand-aloneapplication 152, one or more application plug-ins, and/or a browserextension. However, the user can also interact with content managementsystem 110 via a third-party application, such as a web browser, thatresides on client device 150 and is configured to communicate withcontent management system 110. In various implementations, theclient-side application 152 can present a user interface (UI) for a userto interact with content management system 110. For example, the usercan interact with the content management system 110 via a file systemexplorer integrated with the file system or via a webpage displayedusing a web browser application.

In some embodiments, client application 152 can be configured to manageand synchronize content for more than one account of content managementsystem 110. In such embodiments client application 152 can remain loggedinto multiple accounts and provide normal services for the multipleaccounts. In some embodiments, each account can appear as folder in afile system, and all content items within that folder can besynchronized with content management system 110. In some embodiments,client application 152 can include a selector to choose one of themultiple accounts to be the primary account or default account.

While content management system 110 is presented with specificcomponents, it should be understood by one skilled in the art, that thearchitectural configuration of system 100 is simply one possibleconfiguration and that other configurations with more or fewercomponents are possible. Further, a service can have more or lessfunctionality, even including functionality described as being withanother service. Moreover, features described herein with respect to anembodiment can be combined with features described with respect toanother embodiment.

While system 100 is presented with specific components, it should beunderstood by one skilled in the art, that the architecturalconfiguration of system 100 is simply one possible configuration andthat other configurations with more or fewer components are possible.

FIG. 2 illustrates file browser interface 200 of client application 152in accordance with some aspects of the present technology. File browserinterface 200 includes content items listing section 204 and detailspane 202. In some embodiments, file browser interface 200 can bepresented by an application stored and executing on client device 150that has access to local content storage 154 and services and databasesof content management system 110. In some embodiments, file browserinterface 200 can be presented by a web browser that interprets codedownloaded from content management system 110 or stored on client device150 to render the features of file browser interfaces such as contentitems listing section 204 and details pane 202, among other featuresdescribed herein. Regardless of the source of the code interpreted by aweb browser rendering file browser interface 200, file browser interface200 has access to local content storage 154 and services and databasesof content management system 110 in accordance with the featuresdescribed herein.

Details pane 202 can be populated and maintained by details pane service162. As described further herein details pane service 162 is responsiblefor requesting and populating data to be displayed in details pane 202.In some embodiments, details pane service 162 may also be responsiblefor displaying details pane 202 in combination with the clientapplication 152 or web browser on client device 150.

Content items listing section 204 is configured to list all contentitems contained within a grouping regardless of the storage location ofthose content items. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 2, contentitems listing section 204 shows all content items contained withingrouping 205 “Dropbox.” As is known in the art, Dropbox is a contentmanagement service (such as the service managed by content managementsystem 110 described herein) that stores content items in cloud storage,and, for many types of files, can maintain synchronized copies of thecontent items stored in the cloud with copies stored in local storage ona client device. However Dropbox also can maintain content items storedonly in the cloud. Content items listing section 204 can displayrepresentations of all content items stored by content management system110 including both content items stored in local content storage 154 ofclient device 150 and content items stored in content storage 142 ofcontent management system 110. Representations of content items havingcopies stored in both local content storage 154 and content storage 142can be used to open such content items directly from local contentstorage 154.

A grouping such as grouping 205 does not need to be limited to a singlesource. For example, a grouping could be linked to multiple differentsources such as different content management system services (e.g.,Dropbox, Box, SugarSync, iCloud, OneDrive, etc.), different onlinedocument editing services (e.g., Google Docs, Dropbox Paper, MicrosoftOffice Online, iCloud, etc.), and local content storage 154. In someembodiments, such as illustrated in FIG. 1, file browser interface 200and details pane 202 are part of client application 152 associated withcontent management system 110. In such embodiments, content managementsystem 110 would be a primary service, and any other service, such asany of the representative services listed above, would be considered asecondary service 170. In some embodiments, a secondary service can beprovided by a third party service—e.g., a service that is not theprovider of file browser interface 200 and details pane 202.

Details pane 202 is configured to display information such as comments,activity, previews, etc. pertaining to content items shown in contentitems listing section 204.

FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment of details pane 202 when no specificcontent item has been selected in content items listing section 204. Theinformation displayed in details pane 202 when no specific content itemhas been selected pertains to any of or multiple of the content itemsdisplayed in content items listing section 204. The informationdisplayed in details pane 202 can be sourced from any service storingone of the content items represented in content items listing section204. Thus, the information displayed in details pane 202 can come frommultiple sources.

FIG. 2 illustrates an activity section 206 shown in details pane 202.Activity section 206 lists information pertaining to activity occurringwith respect to content items in content item listing section 204.Activity occurring with respect to a content item can includeinformation that a content item was opened, edited, shared, commentedon, etc. In some embodiments, the activities occurring with respect to aparticular content item may be aggregated, as will be described furtherherein. Activities in the activity section can be sent to clientapplication 152 by notification service 117.

In some embodiments, content items listed in content item listingsection 204 are shared content items 209 and file browser interface 200can display icons representing user accounts 208 to which content itemsin a grouping are shared. In some embodiments, icons representing useraccounts 208 reflect user accounts currently viewing the content item orthat have previously viewed the content item. In some embodiments, iconsrepresenting user accounts 208 can be arranged from most recent viewingof the content item to least recent such that the user account that hasmost recently viewed the content item is displayed to the left of theicons, and icons representing user accounts with previous views of thecontent item can be displayed to the right. In some embodiments, onlyuser accounts that have viewed the content item within a particular timeperiod, or since a content item was last revised are displayed in iconsrepresenting user accounts 208.

FIG. 3 illustrates another view of file browser interface 200. In FIG.3, file browser interface 200 displays grouping 215 “design assets”which is a subfolder in a larger collection. As illustrated, the titleof grouping 215 is accompanied by brief description 201 of the contentsof grouping 215. In some embodiments, brief description 201 can beedited by a user with sufficient privileges for folder 215. Just as inFIG. 2, file browser interface 200 in FIG. 3 also includes content itemlisting section 204, details pane 202, and icons representing useraccounts 208. FIG. 3 illustrates details pane 202 including commentssection 210 along with activity section 206. Comments section 210reflects that no comments have been provided for subfolder “designassets” 215, but as reflected in activity section 206 at least onecontent item within the subfolder “design assets” 215 has receivedcomments (e.g., activity 207 reflects that comments have been maderegarding content item 203). The other activities listed in activitysection 206 reflect added, edited, or shared content items within thesubfolder “design assets” 215. Comments section 210 can be presented inany details pane view. In some embodiments, comments section 210 candisplay comments for an entire collection of content items displayed incontent items listing section 204 (such as illustrated in FIG. 3), orcan display comments for a specific, selected content item (such asillustrated in FIG. 4).

Comment section 210 is configured to display comments pertaining to anycontent items listed in content item listing section 204. In someembodiments, comments section 210 can also include replies to a previouscomment and can form a conversation thread. Comment section 210 alsoincludes an interface to receive a comment. In some embodiments, thecomment can pertain generally to grouping 215. In some embodiments, thecomment can be in reply to a previous comment, and thereby create aconversation thread of linked comments (as illustrated in FIG. 9 andFIG. 15A). Comments can be sent to client application 152 bynotification service 117.

In some embodiments, such as illustrated in FIG. 4, when a particularcontent item is selected in content items view 204, details pane 202 candisplay details (e.g., activities, comments, previews, etc.) that arespecific to the selected content item. FIG. 4 illustrates another viewof file browser interface 200, which again illustrates grouping 215.However, in FIG. 4, a particular content item, content item 203, isselected causing details pane 202 to only reflect information relevantto the selected content item 203. Details pane 202 now includes previewsection 216 showing preview 213 of the selected content item 203.Comments section 210 illustrates comment 219 given on the selectedcontent item 203 and provides an interface 223 to provide new commentsregarding the selected content item. Activity section 206 shows onlyactivity pertinent to the selected content item.

FIG. 5A illustrates an example method for populating details pane 202with information relevant to content items displayed in content itemlisting section 204. A file browser application can include a contentitems listing section 204 showing content items locally stored on clientdevice 150 in local content storage and/or showing content items storedin an online service such as content management system 110 or secondaryservice 170. The file browser application also includes details pane 202that is populated with data by details pane service 162. Details paneservice 162 is responsible for populating details pane 202 withinformation relevant to content items in content items listing section204, and is responsible for reacting to inputs received within detailspane 202.

Details pane service 162 can identify (302) content items displayed incontent item listing section 204 (or all content items in a directorythat is open in the file browser application) and can retrieve (304)existing details for content items in content item listing section 204from a cache on client device 150. In some embodiments, the cache can bepart of storage index 164. The cache is a collection of previouslyreceived information regarding content items previously displayed orthat may be displayed in file browser interface 200. In someembodiments, the cache may be populated when details pane service 162requests information regarding a content item from one or more sources.In some embodiments, the cache may be populated when notificationservice 117 sends notifications regarding a content item to clientapplication 152.

As introduced above, notification service 117 can receive informationregarding details for a content item and notify client devices 150. Insome embodiments, notification service 117 is configured to receive rawevent data and translate the raw event data into details that are moremeaningful to users, or to aggregate the details to provide a betteruser experience. As addressed herein, notification service 117 cancollect information regarding any file level event regarding a contentitem. Notification service 117 can also access information regardingactions taken by collaborators with whom a content item is shared withrespect to the content item. Notification service 117 can also accessinformation regarding comments made with respect to a content item,information regarding timestamps pertaining to when a content item waslast opened, created, modified, etc. In addition to accessing thisinformation, notification service 117 can also translate notifications,and/or aggregate notifications pertaining to a content item or acollection of content items to provide more meaning or a better userexperience to users. For example, a poor user experience might resultfrom sending too many notifications to client devices 150, such as mighthappen if a collection of content items was newly shared. In such anexample, and in some implementations, notifications could be sentregarding every content item in the collection, which may result in manynotifications. In other examples, notification service 117 can send asingle notification regarding the collection that was shared, or send anotification stating that many content items had been shared. Whilenotifications service 117 can aggregate notifications prior to sendingthe notifications to client device 150, in some embodiments, detailspane service 162 can request raw data (not aggregated) for storage incache so that details pane service 162 can make its own aggregationdecisions based on the raw data.

In addition to retrieving (304) details from the cache, details paneservice 162 can request new details (306) for content items in contentitem listing section 204. These details may be for activities, andcomments that have occurred after the last recorded activity detailsstored in the cache.

As noted above, while notification service 117 can perform anaggregating function. In some embodiments, details pane service 162 canadditionally aggregate (308) details by further combining details storedin cache, and/or details received in response to request (306) for newdetails. Notifications service 117 only aggregates notificationsincluding details at the time the notifications are sent to clientdevice 150, but details pane service 162 can aggregate all detailsreceived within a particular time period regardless of whether they werereceived in a single notification or multiple notifications received atdifferent times.

For example details pane service 162 can aggregate details receivedwithin a period of time, e.g., the last week, last three days, today,etc. The details to be aggregated might be stored in cache or receivedfrom content management system 110 in response to a request. The detailsmay already be in partially aggregated form. For example, the detailsmight be in the form of two previously received notifications where thefirst notification from a first time says that “you added 5 items” and asecond notification from a second time says that “you added 2 items.”These partially aggregated notifications can be fully aggregated bydetails pane service 162 into a detail that says “You added 7 items.”

Details pane service 162 can aggregate details based on any commoncriteria. For example, details can be aggregated based on an actor,i.e., the person performing an action. Such a detail would be “Youcommented on 9 items in Dropbox” 244 (FIG. 6A). Details can beaggregated based on a common folder or content item—such as “Assets(Folder with 292 items was added . . . ” 246 (FIG. 2), or “DCS17043_JPGwas commented on by you, Tom, & 3 others” 207 (FIG. 3). Details can beaggregated by time—such as “312 items were added to Dropbox since Monday. . . ” 246 (FIG. 6A).

Details pane service 162 can perform several types of aggregation. Afirst type of aggregation is a true aggregation where details allpertaining to the same criteria can be grouped together. An example oftrue aggregation is “You commented on 9 items in Dropbox” 244 (FIG. 6A),where the number of files “you commented on” have been summed. A secondtype of aggregation is debouncing where the same or similar action hasbeen performed repetitively. For example, when a user has made multipleedits and saves to the same content item, the detail can be listed as asingle activity detail such as “Weekly To-do List . . . was edited byyou” 248 (FIG. 2). The user (“you”) may have made several edits, but theactivity detail just states that the file was edited. A third type ofaggregation is reclassification where raw events pertaining to a contentitem do not reflect a user's impression of the action. A common type ofreclassification pertains to a delete of a content item, closelyfollowed by an add of a content item. Given the sequence of delete thenadd of the same content item, and that the two events happened close intime, it is highly likely that the user moved the content item.Therefore, in reclassification, details pane service 162 can reclassifydelete then add events to be move events.

In some embodiments, details pane service 162 can also choose an order(308) in which to display (310) details in details pane 202. Detailspane service 162 can order the details for display according to arelevance function. For example, activities or comments can be orderedbased on any one or more factors such as when the detail including theactivity or comment was received, when the content item was lastinteracted with (viewed, edited, commented on, etc.), volume of activityor comments for the content item, number of collaborators, explicit userinput indicating interest in a content item, etc.

After details pane service 162 has aggregated and ordered (308) cachedand received details, details pane service 162 can cause display (310)of the details in details pane 202.

In some embodiments, details pertaining to the same event can beaggregated based on a context of a folder that is selected. For exampleFIG. 5B illustrates an example method for presenting activity detailsaccording to the relevant context of the folder that is selected. Themethod begins when details pane service 162 determines that a folder ispresented (314), and presents (316) aggregated details for content itemsin the presented folder and subfolders (as described in steps 304, 306,308, and 310 of FIG. 5A).

For example, FIG. 6A illustrates an embodiment showing a root folder 205in file browser interface 200. Details pane service 162 has populateddetails pane 202 with aggregated details including details 244 and 246to accompany the content items displayed in content items section 204.(While FIG. 6A only shows aggregated details in details pane 202, thisis to provide a simplified example only, and it should be appreciatedthat details pane 202 can include non-aggregated details, such asdetails specific to a particular event on a particular content item.)Since FIG. 6A illustrates file browser interface 200 showing root folder205, details pane 202 includes aggregated details that pertain to theentire directory. The details can be grouped according to any commoncharacteristic. For example, aggregated detail 244 is grouped based oncontent items that have been commented on by “you,” and aggregateddetail 246 is grouped based on content items that have been added toroot folder 205 (or its subfolders) since Monday.

Aggregated details in details pane 202 can be selected. As shown in FIG.5B, in some embodiments, details pane service 162 can determine that anaggregated detail has been selected (315). After details pane service162 has determined that an aggregated detail has been selected (315),details pane service 162 can highlight (317) any content items that arerelevant to the selected aggregated detail. For example, FIG. 6B showsan example file browser interface 200 showing aggregated detail 244 ashaving been selected. In accordance with step 315 in FIG. 5B, contentitems 229 and 209 are highlighted (see FIG. 6B) to reflect that thecontent items referred to by aggregated detail 244 are located withinthe highlighted folders. In some embodiments, if a content item that wasreferred to by aggregated detail 244 was stored directly in rootdirectory 205, the content item itself would also be highlighted.

As noted above, aggregated details can be contextualized according tothe folder that is presented in file browser interface 200. In FIG. 5B,details pane service 162 can determine (318) that another folder hasbeen selected, and can present (320) details that are contextualized forthe selected folder. This contextualization is illustrated by comparingFIG. 6A with FIG. 6C. FIG. 6A presents Dropbox root folder 205, whileFIG. 6C presents folder Design Library 209, which is a subfolder ofDropbox root folder 205. Accordingly, FIG. 6A includes aggregateddetails pertaining to all content items in Dropbox root folder 205,while FIG. 6C includes aggregated details pertaining to content items inDesign Library 209 or its subfolders. For example, in FIG. 6A,aggregated details 244 pertains to 9 content items that “you” havecommented on, but in FIG. 6C, aggregated detail 249 pertains to only 3items the “you” have commented on in “Design Library.” The context ofthe aggregated detail that pertains to content items that “you” havecommented on has changed from FIG. 6A to FIG. 6C to pertain to onlythose content items that are in Design Library 209. Specifically,aggregated detail 244 refers to 9 content items, while aggregated detail249 refers to 3 of those 9 content items. Aggregated detail 249 refersto 3 content items when only two content items are shown (241, 243)because some/all of the 3 content items are located within folder“Digital” 241.

Likewise aggregated detail 251 has been contextualized for presentationof Design Library 209 in FIG. 6C by referring to 294 items (compared to312 items in aggregated detail 246 in FIG. 6A), and by referringdirectly to subfolder “Digital” 241 (compared to the path “DesignLibrary→Digital” in aggregated detail 246 in FIG. 6A).

Details pane 202 can determine contextualization of the aggregateddetails on demand (e.g., after a folder has been selected), or canpre-process the contextualizations by creating and storingcontextualizations for each (sub)directory and store this table incache.

In addition to contextualizing aggregated details according to thefolder displayed in file browser interface 200, in some embodiments,details pane service 162 can present different details, alternategroupings of details, and alternate sections for organizing andinteracting with details, etc. based on the folder displayed in filebrowser interface 200. Details pane service 162 can further determinewhether content items listing section 204 is displaying a root folder,or a subfolder, or whether a particular content item is selected. Whencontent items listing section 204 is displaying a root folder, detailspane service 162 might display only activity details pertaining tocontent items in the root folder. For example, as seen in FIG. 2, filebrowser application 200 is displaying root folder 205, and details pane202 is only displaying activity section 206. While FIG. 2 does notdisplay separate comments section 210 (as seen in FIG. 3) or previewsection 216 (as seen in FIG. 4), however, activity section 206 doesinclude comments, and displays thumbnail images next to activities. Bydisplaying less detail sections, details pane 202 can avoid being overcrowded.

In some embodiments, details pane service 162 can determine that adirectory displayed in content items listing section 204 includes toomany content items, and display only certain detail sections (e.g.,activities, comments, previews, etc.). As with a determination of a rootfolder being displayed—by displaying less detail sections, details pane202 can avoid being over crowded.

In some embodiments, when content items listing section 204 isdisplaying a subfolder or is displaying less than a threshold number ofcontent items, or there is less than a threshold number of totalactivities to be displayed, details pane service 162 may displayadditional types of information. For example, details pane service 162can display comments section 210 or previews section 216 for contentitems or collections of content items displayed in content items listingsection 204.

For example FIG. 7, illustrates an example for receiving a selection ofa content items or detail pertaining to the content item, and updatingdetails pane 202 with details specific for the content item. Detailspane service 162 can determine (322) that an individual content itemwithin content items listing section 204 or a detail in details section202 pertaining to the content item has been selected. Both selection ofthe content item or the detail for the content item can be treated as aselection of the content item. When an individual content item has beenselected (such as, e.g., content item 203 in FIG. 4), details paneservice 162 can take actions to display a preview of the selectedindividual content item (such as preview 213 of content item 203) alongwith comments and activity for the selected individual content item.Thus, details pane service 162 can request (324) a content item previewfor the selected individual content item, and display (326) a contentitem preview in preview section 216 (as seen e.g., in FIG. 4). In someembodiments, the content item preview can be available from a localcache (as explained in step 304 of FIG. 5A); in some embodiments, thepreview can be available from content management system 110 (asexplained in step 306 of FIG. 5A); and in some embodiments, the previewcan be dynamically rendered by details pane service 162 (as explainedfurther with respect to FIG. 10). Additionally, details pane service 162can present (328) other sections in details pane 202 that are specificto the content item such as comments section 210 and activity section206, as seen e.g., in FIG. 4 having comment 219 and activities thatpertain to selected individual content item 203.

FIG. 8 illustrates another example of file browser interface 200. InFIG. 8, file browser interface 200 displays the contents of subfolder“fall 2017 issue” as seen in directory path 224. FIG. 8 further showstwo additional subfolders within content items listing section 204. Thefirst of those subfolders is subfolder 220 “work in progress,” and thesecond subfolder is subfolder 225 “resources.” Within each of subfolder220 and subfolder 225, additional content items are listed. One suchadditional content item is folder 211 “fonts,” which has been selected.Responsive to the selection of folder 211, details pane service 162presents details pane 202 showing preview section 216 showing preview227 of folder 211. Details pane 202 also includes comments section 210and activity section 206 listing any comments and activity for folder211.

FIG. 9 illustrates another example of file browser interface 200. InFIG. 9, file browser interface 200 displays the contents of subfolder230 “fall 2017 issue” and further shows two additional subfolders withincontent items listing section 204. The first of these subfolders issubfolder 235 “latest,” and the second is subfolder 220 “work inprogress.” In FIG. 9, content item 217 has been selected, and detailspane service 162 displays details pane 202 showing preview section 216showing a preview of content item 217. This preview is a dynamic previewwherein preview section 216 has rendered editable contents of contentitem 217. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 9, preview section 216shows a to-do list that can be interacted with directly from detailspane 202 without opening content item 217 in a default applicationtypically used to open content item 217. Interactions with contentdisplayed in preview section 216 of details pane 202 will be discussedin further detail with respect to FIG. 11.

FIG. 10A and FIG. 10B illustrate examples of detached details pane 222.In these embodiments, details pane 222 is displayed as its own separatewindow as opposed to details pane 202 which is displayed as a portion offile browser interface 200. While detached details pane 222 is displayedas its own separate window, it can function in the same manner asdetails pane 202 and function in coordination with file browserinterface 200. Likewise, any features illustrated in FIG. 10A and FIG.10B can also be present in any of the attached views of details pane 202illustrated in other figures.

FIG. 10A illustrates preview section 216 showing a preview of a contentitem. Preview section 216 also shows metadata associated with thecontent item. Specifically preview section 216 shows when the contentitem was last edited 228 next to information regarding the number oftimes the content item was opened 226. Displaying this informationside-by-side is unique and useful. First showing information regardinghow recently a content item has been edited 228 is useful but whencombined with information regarding how often a file has been opened 226provides important additional context. Together this information showsnot only that a content item is currently relevant but it also showsthat it has been repeatedly relevant because it has been openedrepeatedly. Also, a high count for the number of times the content itemhas been opened is an indication that the content item is likely shared.This can be confirmed by viewing activity section 206 that gives morecontext to who has opened the content item.

One unique aspect of displaying last edited information 228 next tocontent item open count 226 is that this data may be derived fromdiverse sources. For example, last edited information 228 may be derivedfrom an operating system of client device 150 while content item opencount 226 may be sourced from content management system 110 or otherplatform that manages shared content items.

Another feature illustrated in FIG. 10A is version information displayedwithin activity section 206. For example, in some embodiments, activitywith respect to a content item can be divided into activity pertainingto different versions of the content item. As illustrated in FIG. 10Aactivity section 206 displays activity for a first version 234 andactivity for a second version 236. In some embodiments, the content itemmay be associated with a declared input that it should be designated anew version. In some embodiments, the content item may be designated anew version after the content item has been edited and saved.

FIG. 10B also illustrates an example of detached details pane 222. InFIG. 10B, comments section 210 reflects comments on the content itemshown in preview section 216. The comments shown in comment section 210are shown collapsed so that a comment thread does not overtake theentire detached details pane 222, or other comment threads. In someembodiments, when a comments thread is collapsed, details pane service162 can display a subset of the comments, such as a first and lastcomment in the comments thread, and can provide information regardingthe existence of additional comments 242. In some embodiments, theinformation regarding the existence of additional comments 242 can beactionable to receive an input and expand to show one or more of thecollapsed comments.

FIG. 11 illustrates an example method pertaining to displaying a previewof a content item by details pane service 162 when file browserinterface 200 receives (350) a selection of a comment that is specificto a particular content item. In some embodiments, when details pane 202is displaying a view including comments section 210, details pane 202 isdisplaying a view specific to a particular content item, whether thatcontent item is a subfolder or a file. In some embodiments, when detailspane 202 is displaying a view that is specific to a particular contentitem, details pane 202 also includes a preview of the particular contentitem. A preview can include a preview representing a content item or apreview of a portion of a content item. In some examples, when selectionof a specific comment or content item is received (350), details paneservice 162 can present a preview showing the location of the comment inthe content item. In some embodiments, the preview showing the locationto which the comment is anchored within the content item can replace thepreview representing the entire content item in preview section 216. Insome embodiments, the preview showing the location to which the commentis anchored within the content item can be shown in comments section210, or in a separate pop out box or window (as illustrated in FIG. 12A,FIG. 12B, and FIG. 13). In some embodiments, a comment anchor can behighlighted text, or a selected point, or a selected area within thecontent item.

Details pane service 162 can determine (356) whether the content item isof a type that is dynamically renderable as addressed in greater detailbelow. As such, when details pane service 162 determines (356) that thepreview is dynamically renderable, details pane service 162 dynamicallyrenders (361) a preview from a copy of the content item (whether storedlocally or in cloud storage) that shows the location of the selectedcomment in the content item. A dynamic preview can be rendered by acontent authoring applet that is part of, or associated with detailspane service 162. In some embodiments, the content authoring applet canread contents of content items, locate a comment within the contentitem, and render the appropriate portion of the content item as thepreview. In some embodiments, the content authoring applet can provide aweb view through which the content authoring applet can render a previewfrom a copy of the content item stored at content management system 110.Note, while a local copy of the content item may be available on clientdevice 150, the web view can still render the preview based on contentmanagement system copy of the content item.

In some embodiments, a dynamic preview can receive edits directly in thepreview. In some embodiments, the dynamic preview can receive andrespond to inputs to navigate within the content item.

In some embodiments, details pane service 162 might not be able torender dynamic previews of some content items. When details pane service162 determines (356) that it is not able to dynamically render apreview, details pane service 162 can request (358) a static previewshowing a portion of the content item and display (360) a preview of thecontent item showing a location within the content item to which theselected comment is anchored. Dynamic previews are further addressedwith respect to FIG. 16, below.

The static previews can be received from content management system 110which can provide a service that opens content items and createspreviews of the content item surrounding a selected comment within thecontent item. In some embodiments, this function can be performed inadvance and pre-processed previews can be sent to client device 150 tobe cached. In some embodiments, the previews can be created and/or sentto device 150 on demand and at the request of details pane service 162.

In some embodiments, previews showing a comment in a content item mightbe automatically included in comments section 210.

In some embodiments, while a preview of a content item showing thelocation of a comment within the content item is being displayed,details pane service 162 can receive an input selecting (350) anothercomment resulting in presentation of another preview (360, 361) showingthe location of the another comment within the content item.

FIG. 12A and FIG. 12B illustrate two examples of details pane 222illustrating example previews showing the location of comments within acontent item. While FIG. 12A and FIG. 12B illustrate detached detailspane 222, it should be appreciated that all of the features illustratedtherein apply equally to the details pane in other form factors such asdetails pane 202.

As illustrated in FIG. 12A and FIG. 12B, detached details pane 222includes preview section 216 showing a general preview applicable tocontent item 217. Comments section 210 presents a preview showing thelocation of a comment with respect to content item 217.

FIG. 12A and FIG. 12B also illustrate an expandable preview section 216.User interface control 232 can be activated to expand preview section216 as shown in FIG. 12A to reveal metadata regarding content item 217.When preview section 216 is expanded, user interface control 232 can beselected to collapse preview section 216 to hide the additional metadatadetails.

FIG. 13 illustrates file browser interface 200 including details pane202 showing details pertaining to content item 221. Preview pane 216displays a preview of content item 221, and comments section 210 showscomments pertaining to content item 221. In FIG. 13, an individualcomment, comment 256, has been selected, and in response, details paneservice 162 has displayed popout window 262 to display a preview of theportion 258 of content item 221 to which comment 256 is anchored.

FIG. 14 illustrates an example of content item 221 opened in a native ordefault application. As shown in FIG. 13, comment 256 is shown alongwith the portion 258 of the document to which it is anchored.

FIG. 15 illustrates an example of file browser interface 200 withdetails pane 202 showing activity for subfolder 230 “Fall 2017 Issue”.As illustrated in FIG. 15, activity section 206 includes commentsgrouped into categories based on the day the activity wasrecorded—specifically grouping 264 for comments recorded “today” andgrouping 266 for comments recorded “yesterday.”

Additionally, FIG. 15 illustrates activity 233 pertaining to contentitem 217 having been selected. Details pane service 162 can receive theselection of activity 233 and display details pane popout window 268showing details specific to content item 217, including a content itempreview in preview section 216 and preview 252 showing the location inwhich comments in comments section 210 are anchored within content item217.

As introduced above, some content items may be conducive to presentingdynamic previews for these content items. For example, content itemswritten in a markup language, or cloud content items such as a contentitem that is stored in an online document service (e.g., a Paperdocument, by Dropbox Inc., or a Google Doc, by Google Inc.), may berendered directly by details pane service 162. Other content items maybe dynamically renderable through assistance of service accessible viaan API. Some content items can be dynamically renderable by providing awebview that displays a portion of the content item opened on a contentmanagement system. Dynamically renderable previews may be interactedwith directly in the preview pane such that edits or additional commentscan be made without opening the content item in a default applicationused to edit the content item.

FIG. 16 illustrates an example method for rendering and interacting withdynamically rendered previews. When details pane service 162 determinesthat a preview should be presented for a content item for which apreview is dynamically renderable, details pane service 162 candynamically render (362) the preview from a copy of the content item.

As noted above, dynamically renderable previews can receive interactionsand edit directly in the preview. As such, details pane service 162 canreceive (364) interaction with the dynamically rendered preview by wayof receiving a user input into the dynamically rendered previewdisplayed in details pane 202 (262 or 268). Details pane service 162 canupdate (366) the preview and the content item itself in response to thereceived (364) interactions. In this way, quick changes can be made tothe content item without having to open the content item in a defaultapplication. The changes can be reflected directly in the preview, whichremains available for continued interaction until the user opens thecontent item in a native application, selects another content item, orcloses file browser interface 200.

FIG. 17A and FIG. 17B show example detail panes 222 showing an exampleof dynamically rendered content item previews shown in preview section216. In the example in FIG. 17A, the dynamically rendered documentpreview is shown in collapsed preview section 216 and in FIG. 17B thedynamically rendered preview is shown in an expanded preview section216. As addressed with respect to FIG. 12A and FIG. 12B, preview section216 can be switched from collapsed to expanded views through selectionof user interface control 232.

The dynamically rendered preview shows a check list that can beinteracted with to provide updates to both the preview and theunderlying content item as explained with respect to FIG. 15. In someembodiments, the preview can be taken from metadata stored with thecontent item. For example, some content items can be stored withworkflow information, such as a to-do list. In such embodiments, apossible preview would include displaying the to-do list. In someembodiments, the to-do list is a portion of the content item itself. Insome embodiments, the to-do list can be stored in a companion metadatafile.

In some embodiments, where the preview is a dynamically renderedpreview, it can be possible to not only make changes to the portion ofthe content item shown in preview section 216, but it may also bepossible to navigate to other sections of the document. If the contentitem is a web document, such as a web page, it may be possible tonavigate Internet content by clicking on links in the content item.

Dynamically rendered previews can be provided by including one or morecontent authoring applets within or associated with details pane service162. The content authoring applets can include enough code to renderspecific document types, or at least portions of specific document typeswithin preview section 216 of details pane 202. In some embodiments, thedynamically rendered preview can be displayed within a frame under thecontrol of the content authoring applet.

In some embodiments, the content authoring applet can include code torender the entire content item, and when rendering the content item, canformat the contents of the content item for display within previewsection 216. Additionally, the applet can permit scrolling through thecontents of the content item.

In some embodiments, the content authoring applet can include onlylimited features as compared to a default application typically used toview and edit the type of content item. For example, only basic editingand commenting features may be available.

In some embodiments, the content authoring applet can be configured toonly render limited portions of the content item. For example, onlyportions of the content item to which comments are attached, or onlyportions containing a checklist might be renderable. In someembodiments, portions of the content item can be tagged to be availableto be displayed as a dynamically renderable preview.

In some embodiments, the content authoring applet can be configured torender a web view through communication with web interface service 124.Such embodiments can be useful to depend on content management system110 to have the capability to render diverse content items in a webview. For example, content management system 110 can have the capabilityto open files specific to a particular document editor, or a particularimage editor, or a particular spreadsheet application, and can provide aweb view of the content item using web interface service 124. In suchembodiments, even though a content item has been selected on clientdevice 150 and for which a version maybe stored locally, it will be aversion of the content item stored at content management system 110 thatis opened for the purposes of generating and interacting with thedynamic preview. Any changes made to the content item can be saved tocontent management system 110 and synchronized to the copy stored onclient device 150.

Similarly, in embodiments wherein the content item is a collaborativecontent item, the content authoring applet can be configured to render aweb view of the online service that supports the content item. Forexample, a collaborative content item can be rendered by the contentauthoring applet that is communicating with collaborative documentservice 134.

While rendering dynamic content item previews by content authoringapplet hosting a web view of the content item can be useful in manycircumstances, it is less useful when client device 150 is not connectedto the Internet. In such embodiments, even if the default behavior ofthe content authoring applet is to host a web view in coordination witha web server, content authoring applet can contain a local resourcelibrary that is effective to permit local content items to be renderedwithout coordination with a web server. In some embodiments, whendocuments are rendered in this fashion, the formatting of the document,or the features available may be limited.

When a dynamically renderable preview receives an edit, the edit can besaved in the content item itself (a locally stored version if thedynamic preview is rendered from the locally stored version, or acontent management system stored version if the dynamic preview isprovided in a web view).

In some embodiments, the content items are managed by synchronizedcontent management service 110, and when changes to a version of acontent item are saved as described above, these changes can besynchronized with other copies saved at content management system 110 orother client devices 150.

In some embodiments, a better user experience can be provided ifactivities and comments to be provided in details pane 202 are cachedbefore they are required, or pre-fetched, allowing the activities andcomments to be provided more quickly. FIG. 18 illustrates an examplemethod for prefetching activities and comments to be displayed indetails pane 202. Details pane service 162 displays (402) details pane202 for a folder or content item within a folder. Details pane service162 can pre-fetch (404) updates to activities and/or comments forcontent items that are stored in a lower level subfolder than the folderfor which information is currently displayed in details pane 202. Oncedetails pane service 162 receives an input (406) within file browserinterface 200 to navigate to a different subfolder, details pane service162 can display (408) activities and/or comments previously stored in acache. Details pane service 162 can continue to request and receive(410) updates to activities and/or comments to update details pane 202and the cache. In some embodiments, notification service 117 can pushnew activities and new comments to client device 150, and these can alsobe stored in cache.

In embodiments wherein activities and comments are pre-fetched asdescribed above, it may be beneficial to utilize a more intelligentsystem than to simply request and download all activity and comments forall content items in a next lower level subfolder. Some folders maystill have many content items in the next level of subfolders and thusdownloading activities and comments for these content items may be timeconsuming and require a lot of bandwidth. Furthermore, users maynavigate through a directory structure more quickly than the commentsand activities can be pre-fetched. Accordingly, in some embodiments, themethod illustrated in FIG. 18 can be modified to pre-fetch activitiesand comments according to a pre-fetching priority score.

A pre-fetching priority score can be determined for each content item toascertain a relative priority for pre-fetching comments and activitiesfor content items. In some embodiments, the pre-fetching priority scorecan be dynamically updated as factors relevant to determining thepre-fetching priority score change. The pre-fetching priority score canbe an estimate of the probability that the user will want to access eachparticular content item on their client device 150.

In some embodiments, the pre-fetching priority score is based on arecency criteria such as examining a last-opened date on the clientdevice, a last-opened date on another device, a last-modified metadatavalue, a last shared date, how recently the content item opened oredited by another user with which the content item is shared, etc.

In some embodiments, the pre-fetching priority score is based on a valuerepresenting whether or not or representing a degree to which a userexplicitly marks a content item as subjectively important, as a favoriteitem, etc.

In some embodiments, the pre-fetching priority score is based on a valuerepresenting how frequently a content item is changed or accessed in thecontent management system.

In some embodiments, the pre-fetching priority score is based on a valuerepresenting how many user accounts are interacting with a content itemover a period of time.

The pre-fetching priority score can be based on any combination of theabove or other factors.

FIG. 19 shows an example of computing system 500, which can be forexample any computing device making up client device 150, contentmanagement system 110 or any component thereof in which the componentsof the system are in communication with each other using connection 505.Connection 505 can be a physical connection via a bus, or a directconnection into processor 510, such as in a chipset architecture.Connection 505 can also be a virtual connection, networked connection,or logical connection.

In some embodiments, computing system 500 is a distributed system inwhich the functions described in this disclosure can be distributedwithin a datacenter, multiple datacenters, a peer network, etc. In someembodiments, one or more of the described system components representsmany such components each performing some or all of the function forwhich the component is described. In some embodiments, the componentscan be physical or virtual devices.

Example system 500 includes at least one processing unit (CPU orprocessor) 510 and connection 505 that couples various system componentsincluding system memory 515, such as read only memory (ROM) 520 andrandom access memory (RAM) 525 to processor 510. Computing system 500can include a cache of high-speed memory 512 connected directly with, inclose proximity to, or integrated as part of processor 510.

Processor 510 can include any general purpose processor and a hardwareservice or software service, such as services 532, 534, and 536 storedin storage device 530, configured to control processor 510 as well as aspecial-purpose processor where software instructions are incorporatedinto the actual processor design. Processor 510 may essentially be acompletely self-contained computing system, containing multiple cores orprocessors, a bus, memory controller, cache, etc. A multi-core processormay be symmetric or asymmetric.

To enable user interaction, computing system 500 includes an inputdevice 545, which can represent any number of input mechanisms, such asa microphone for speech, a touch-sensitive screen for gesture orgraphical input, keyboard, mouse, motion input, speech, etc. Computingsystem 500 can also include output device 535, which can be one or moreof a number of output mechanisms known to those of skill in the art. Insome instances, multimodal systems can enable a user to provide multipletypes of input/output to communicate with computing system 500.Computing system 500 can include communications interface 540, which cangenerally govern and manage the user input and system output. There isno restriction on operating on any particular hardware arrangement andtherefore the basic features here may easily be substituted for improvedhardware or firmware arrangements as they are developed.

Storage device 530 can be a non-volatile memory device and can be a harddisk or other types of computer readable media which can store data thatare accessible by a computer, such as magnetic cassettes, flash memorycards, solid state memory devices, digital versatile disks, cartridges,random access memories (RAMs), read only memory (ROM), and/or somecombination of these devices.

The storage device 530 can include software services, servers, services,etc., that when the code that defines such software is executed by theprocessor 510, it causes the system to perform a function. In someembodiments, a hardware service that performs a particular function caninclude the software component stored in a computer-readable medium inconnection with the necessary hardware components, such as processor510, connection 505, output device 535, etc., to carry out the function.

For clarity of explanation, in some instances the present technology maybe presented as including individual functional blocks includingfunctional blocks comprising devices, device components, steps orroutines in a method embodied in software, or combinations of hardwareand software.

Any of the steps, operations, functions, or processes described hereinmay be performed or implemented by a combination of hardware andsoftware services or services, alone or in combination with otherdevices. In some embodiments, a service can be software that resides inmemory of a client device and/or one or more servers of a contentmanagement system and perform one or more functions when a processorexecutes the software associated with the service. In some embodiments,a service is a program, or a collection of programs that carry out aspecific function. In some embodiments, a service can be considered aserver. The memory can be a non-transitory computer-readable medium.

In some embodiments, the computer-readable storage devices, mediums, andmemories can include a cable or wireless signal containing a bit streamand the like. However, when mentioned, non-transitory computer-readablestorage media expressly exclude media such as energy, carrier signals,electromagnetic waves, and signals per se.

Methods according to the above-described examples can be implementedusing computer-executable instructions that are stored or otherwiseavailable from computer readable media. Such instructions can comprise,for example, instructions and data which cause or otherwise configure ageneral purpose computer, special purpose computer, or special purposeprocessing device to perform a certain function or group of functions.Portions of computer resources used can be accessible over a network.The computer executable instructions may be, for example, binaries,intermediate format instructions such as assembly language, firmware, orsource code. Examples of computer-readable media that may be used tostore instructions, information used, and/or information created duringmethods according to described examples include magnetic or opticaldisks, solid state memory devices, flash memory, USB devices providedwith non-volatile memory, networked storage devices, and so on.

Devices implementing methods according to these disclosures can comprisehardware, firmware and/or software, and can take any of a variety ofform factors. Typical examples of such form factors include servers,laptops, smart phones, small form factor personal computers, personaldigital assistants, and so on. Functionality described herein also canbe embodied in peripherals or add-in cards. Such functionality can alsobe implemented on a circuit board among different chips or differentprocesses executing in a single device, by way of further example.

The instructions, media for conveying such instructions, computingresources for executing them, and other structures for supporting suchcomputing resources are means for providing the functions described inthese disclosures.

Although a variety of examples and other information was used to explainaspects within the scope of the appended claims, no limitation of theclaims should be implied based on particular features or arrangements insuch examples, as one of ordinary skill would be able to use theseexamples to derive a wide variety of implementations. Further andalthough some subject matter may have been described in languagespecific to examples of structural features and/or method steps, it isto be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claimsis not necessarily limited to these described features or acts. Forexample, such functionality can be distributed differently or performedin components other than those identified herein. Rather, the describedfeatures and steps are disclosed as examples of components of systemsand methods within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A non-transitory computer readable mediumcomprising instructions, the instructions, when executed by a computingsystem, cause the computing system to: cause display of a file browserinterface presenting a representation of a content item associated witha folder, the file browser interface being displayed concurrently withone or more comments included in the content item; receive a selectionof a comment from the one or more comments at the file browserinterface; and in response to the selection of the comment from the oneor more comments, generate a preview of a cropped portion of the contentitem, wherein the cropped portion corresponds to a location to which thecomment is anchored within the content item, the preview of the croppedportion being generated by a content management system associated withthe file browser interface and displayed without opening a stored copyof the content item or an application for opening the content item. 2.The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein thepreview of the cropped portion is stored at the content managementsystem such that another selection of the comment displays the storedcropped preview as a pre-processed image.
 3. The non-transitory computerreadable medium of claim 1, wherein the instructions cause the computingsystem to: receive an input in the preview of the cropped portion, theinput being an edit to the content item; and save the edit to thecontent item without opening the stored copy of the content item or theapplication for opening the content item.
 4. The non-transitory computerreadable medium of claim 3, wherein saving the edit to the content itemcomprises modifying a content of the stored copy of the content itemwithout opening the stored copy of the content item or the applicationfor opening the content item.
 5. The non-transitory computer readablemedium of claim 3, wherein the instructions cause the computing systemto: receive a second comment associated with a portion of the contentitem; and save the second comment in the stored copy of the content itemwithout opening the stored copy of the content item or the applicationfor opening the content item, wherein saving the second comment in thestored copy of the content item comprises anchoring the second commentto the portion of the content item.
 6. The non-transitory computerreadable medium of claim 1, wherein the instructions cause the computingsystem to: receive an input in the preview of the cropped portion, theinput being an edit to the content item; save the edit to the contentitem without opening the stored copy of the content item or theapplication for opening the content item; and render the edit to thecontent item on a second preview of a portion of the content itemcorresponding to a respective location of the content item associatedwith the edit.
 7. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim1, wherein the instructions cause the computing system to: receive asecond selection of a second comment from the one or more comments, thesecond comment corresponding to a second location in the content item towhich the second comment is anchored to within the content item; andafter the second selection of the second comment from the one or morecomments, display a second preview including at least a portion of thecontent item corresponding to the second location to which the secondcomment is anchored to within the content item.
 8. A method comprising:causing display of a file browser interface presenting a representationa content item associated with a folder, the file browser interfacebeing displayed concurrently with one or more comments included in thecontent item; receiving a selection of a comment from the one or morecomments at the file browser interface; and in response to the selectionof the comment from the one or more comments, generating a preview of acropped portion of the content item, wherein the cropped portioncorresponds to a location to which the comment is anchored within thecontent item, the preview of the cropped portion being generated by acontent management system associated with the file browser interface anddisplayed without opening a stored copy of the content item or anapplication for opening the content item.
 9. The method of claim 8,further comprising: receiving an input in the preview of the croppedportion, the input being an edit to the content item; and save the editto the content item without opening the stored copy of the content itemor the application for opening the content item.
 10. The method of claim8, wherein the content item is editable by a plurality of users havingediting privileges, and wherein a content section associated with thecontent item enables at least some of the plurality of users tosimultaneously provide comments to a comment thread.
 11. The method ofclaim 8, wherein a comment thread is anchored to a highlighted portionof the content item, wherein the preview of the cropped portion includesthe highlighted portion.
 12. The method of claim 8, wherein the contentitem is stored on a client device as a local version of a remote versionof the content item that is stored at a content management system. 13.The method of claim 8, further comprising: receiving an input in thepreview of the cropped portion, the input being an edit to the contentitem; based on the edit to the content item, modifying a content of thestored copy of the content item without opening the stored copy of thecontent item or the application for opening the content item; andrendering the edit to the content item within the preview of the croppedportion.
 14. A system comprising: one or more processors; and at leastone non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having storedthereon instructions which, when executed by the one or more processors,cause the one or more processors to: cause display of a file browserinterface presenting a representations a content item associated with afolder, the file browser interface being displayed currently with one ormore comments included in the content item; receive a selection of acomment from the one or more comments at the file browser interface; andin response to the selection of the comment from the one or morecomments, generate a preview of a cropped portion of the content item,wherein the cropped portion corresponds to a location to which thecomment is anchored within the content item, the preview of the croppedportion being generated by a content management system associated withthe file browser interface and displayed without opening a stored copyof the content item or an application for opening the content item. 15.The system of claim 14, wherein the preview of the cropped portion isstored at the content management system such that another selection ofthe comment display the stored cropped preview a pre-processed image ofa portion of the content item surrounding the location of the contentitem to which the comment is anchored.
 16. The system of claim 14, theat least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium havingstored thereon instructions which, when executed by the one or moreprocessors, cause the one or more processors to: receive an input in thepreview of the cropped portion, the input being an edit to the contentitem; and save the edit to the content item without opening the storedcopy of the content item or the application for opening the contentitem.
 17. The system of claim 16, wherein saving the edit to the contentitem comprises modifying a content of the stored copy of the contentitem without opening the stored copy of the content item or theapplication for opening the content item is an addition of anothercomment, or a deletion of the comment.
 18. The system of claim 14, theat least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium havingstored thereon instructions which, when executed by the one or moreprocessors, cause the one or more processors to: download the preview ofthe cropped portion of a portion of the content item surrounding thelocation of the content item to which the comment is anchored in advanceof the selection of the comment from the one or more comments; and storethe preview of the cropped portion of the portion of the content itemsurrounding the location of the content item to which the comment isanchored in a cache.
 19. The system of claim 14, wherein the comment isanchored to a highlighted portion of the content item, and the previewof the cropped portion includes the highlighted portion.
 20. The systemof claim 14, the at least one non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium having stored thereon instructions which, when executed by theone or more processors, cause the one or more processors to: receive asecond comment associated with a portion of the content item; and savethe second comment in the stored copy of the content item withoutopening the stored copy of the content item or the application foropening the content item, wherein saving the second comment in thestored copy of the content item comprises anchoring the second commentto the portion of the content item.